Chapter 221
This season, Real Madrid is like an arrow piercing the clouds, plundering the fruits of the La Liga competition with unstoppable force.
In fact, not only in La Liga, but also in the Champions League, it is also daunting and full of pressure.
The defeat in the King's Cup was like a shot of adrenaline into this team, which, while painful, suddenly made the entire team enter a more irresistible state.
Barcelona under Guardiola is like a dream team. Before Cristiano came to Real Madrid, the team had won the La Liga championship for three consecutive years and even won the Champions League twice in three years, as if it was invincible.
But now such a huge disparity in the balance has begun to tilt, with Real Madrid gradually increasing its weight on the other end of the scale.
"Real Madrid is scrambling to gain league points!! They are now 10 points ahead of Barcelona!! They are beginning to show their potential as champions!"
"Real Madrid wins six games in a row! Real Madrid shines under Mourinho and Cristiano Ronaldo!"
"Mourinho and Ronaldo's irreconcilable conflict? Their common agent Mendes said: They do have differences of opinion, but they are too important to each other and they know it very well."
"Asked about the conflict with Mourinho, Ronaldo said: I am not here to make friends, I only care about our team and our future."
"Mourinho: There are only simple little problems between us. When I criticize players from a tactical perspective and hope they can improve, his acceptance is not as good as I want. Cristiano seems to know everything and thinks no one can help him improve further."
“…”
News about Real Madrid is like the sweetest honey, attracting countless bees.
However, these external interview responses were mixed, but they did not affect Real Madrid's pace to win the game at all.
The Champions League semi-finals will face Bayern again.
The memory of our regretful early exit against Bayern last season is still vivid in our minds, and now the revenge match is just around the corner.
In the second leg of the semi-finals, Bayern came to the Bernabeu with a 2-1 home lead and the game started in a flash.
Before this game, Real Madrid had just finished an intensive multi-match schedule, and most of the main players had not even had time to recover to their best physical condition.
Cristiano still remembers what they encountered in this game, and now, the gears of history begin to turn again.
Even though the timing and methods of scoring goals in their games were completely different, the scores were fatefully similar.
First half of the second round. A fast-falling elevator ball gave Real Madrid the stepping stone to their first goal.
"Neuer couldn't save Ronaldo's free kick!!! It was too tricky!!!"
"The force and angle of this kick are both very powerful!! Cristiano showed off his thigh muscles to the fans in the stands! Marcelo on the bench was imitating Cristiano's movements to Kaka, haha! What a funny couple!"
After Cristiano scored a goal, Mourinho made some adjustments, replacing Marcelo and Kaka from the bench, and replacing Benzema whose form had declined.
As the main players who have started in many consecutive games, Mourinho made some adjustments considering their physical fitness and condition.
Cristiano quickly ran up to Kaka and gave him a high five and a hug. Marcelo stood between them, raised his eyebrows and said, "Hey, there's me too."
Cristiano laughed and quickly hugged Marcelo, then said: "Pass the ball to me!"
"Got it!" Marcelo shouted with amusement and ran into the field quickly.
The next round of quick counterattack was very resolute and decisive. After Marcelo grabbed the ball, he turned around and dribbled forward.
"Marcelo!! He dribbled past everyone!! He passed everyone!! He passed five people in a row, this is too strong!!"
After Marcelo dribbled across half court, he passed the ball forward to Kaka, who immediately passed it to Cristiano.
"There were already two players guarding Cristiano! Kaka still gave the ball to Cristiano! This is too much trust, but a bit rash..." the commentator couldn't help but say.
This is indeed an area of Cristiano's shooting ability, but with two Bayern defenders in front of Cristiano, Van Nistelrooy in position on the other side would be a better choice.
Cristiano stepped on the ball, and he immediately accelerated and cut inside without hesitation. After creating some distance horizontally, he took advantage of the little gap and kicked the ball directly! !
"Wow! The ball goes in!!!!" The commentator's breath got stuck in his throat. He swallowed hard and screamed, "Cristiano's powerful shot opened the Bayern goal again!!"
"This is the dominance and strength of Cristiano in this era! Even if everyone knows that he is going to shoot here! Even if there are defenders marking him here! He can still shoot faster than them!!"
"Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice! Real Madrid is leading 2-0!!"
Cristiano turned and ran towards Kaka. He jumped up happily and lightly jumped onto Kaka's waist. Kaka hugged him tightly and lifted his legs.
"I knew you could score that goal." Kaka smiled and looked up at Cristiano who was riding on him.
Cristiano chuckled when he heard that, he lowered his head and hugged Kaka's shoulders tightly, quickly gave his lover a brief and unnoticeable kiss on the ear, then waved his arms at Marcelo who was running towards him, and the group of people hugged each other excitedly.
When it was almost the end and everyone thought the game was going to end, Bayern was still trying hard to score another goal.
“Handball!!”
"What happened?? At the last crucial moment of the game!! It seems that there was a handball!?"
"Bayern's Gomez seems to have kicked the ball into Pepe's hand! Is this considered a handball? - Yes!"
The referee's whistle almost set off the entire Bernabeu Stadium.
Robben's penalty fooled Casillas and tied the total score to 3-3!
"Bayern and Real Madrid went to a penalty shootout!!" the commentator shouted unexpectedly excitedly!
Cristiano didn't expect that they would still come to this point. He had played almost the entire field. All the muscles in his body were tense and his nerves were like taut strings, staring at the direction of the goal.
The first penalty kick went to Bayern. Gomez deceived Casillas and scored the goal steadily.
Then there's Cristiano.
"The first one to take the penalty kick from Real Madrid is Cristiano Ronaldo! There is no doubt about it!"
"When Cristiano was in Manchester, he was the team's first penalty taker and his success rate was very high!"
The commentators were almost certain that Cristiano would score.
Cristiano stood at the penalty spot and took a deep breath. Only he knew how nervous he was at this moment.
In a similar situation in his previous life, he missed the penalty kick. No matter how many goals he scored in the regular game, this missed penalty kick became his most painful memory.
They should have been the strongest European team of this era, but they missed out on the Champions League...
Before taking the free throw, Kaka stood beside him and whispered to him: "History will not repeat itself, Cris. Every game is new. Don't let the past trap us."
Cristiano took a deep breath and looked towards the goal with a firm and sharp gaze.
He arched his body slightly, his back muscles forming a full and powerful curve——
"Cristiano adjusted... and shot! The ball went in!!"
"He chose to shoot the ball straight into the blind spot above the goal!!! An extremely calm and bold shot!! Neuer made an accurate judgment but still failed to save this extremely high-quality shot!!"
Cristiano clenched his fists and roared softly. He returned to his teammates, quickly hugged Kaka, and then nervously looked at the next Bayern player who was going to take a free throw with bated breath.
The second penalty was taken by Robben.
Casillas kept a close eye on the opponent's movements. It was already frustrating enough that the team was dragged into a penalty shootout after conceding a penalty at the last moment.
"Robben shoots! The ball is caught by Casillas!!!"
Cristiano and the others suddenly jumped up on the spot, then huddled together nervously, holding onto each other's shoulders.
"Real Madrid's second penalty taker is Kaka! He is also a very stable player! He was the team's first penalty taker when he was in AC Milan!"
Kaka came in front of the goal and calmly put the ball down.
He will not miss the penalty this time. He will not be like in his previous life, when he came on as a substitute and had more energy than Cristiano and Ramos who played the whole game, but the ball was saved by the opponent. That was the moment of regret for him. They are the strongest team with the most luxurious lineup and they should have lifted the most beautiful trophy in the end.
Kaka exhaled.
"Kaka shoots! He fooled Neuer!! Neuer misjudged and dived in the opposite direction!! The ball goes in!!"
"Now the pressure is on Bayern!"
…
After Bayern missed consecutive penalties, it was Ramos' turn to play for Real Madrid.
Ramos kicked the ball over the crossbar in front of the goal, saving Bayern from the precarious situation.
"Ramos actually missed the penalty! Ramos's penalty shooting ability is also quite outstanding! But consecutive full attendance games do require higher ability and quality of the players..."
Ramos returned to the team in frustration. Cristiano and Kaka looked at each other, and both of them tensed up and stared at the opposite goal.
"Casillas saved another penalty from Bayern! Casillas was like a god in this game! !"
There was complete silence on the Bayern side.
Cristiano looked at Van Nistelrooy nervously. If Van Nistelrooy scored this goal, the game would be over.
Van Nistelrooy walked onto the field calmly, took a look at the goal, then took a few steps back to create some distance.
"It's Van Nistelrooy's turn at Real Madrid—"
"Van Nistelrooy takes a run-up and shoots! The ball goes in! Real Madrid has successfully secured a ticket to the Champions League final!!"
"Congratulations to Real Madrid!"
Cristiano rushed into the field as soon as possible. He jumped on Van Nistelrooy's waist excitedly. His whole face turned red, and his eyes were even redder, as if he was about to cry.
Van Nistelrooy hugged Cristiano with amusement. In his opinion, the safety of the penalty shootout was almost like a guarantee. Cristiano, Kaka, Ramos... Even if Ramos missed the penalty, Cristiano and Kaka would not miss it.
He heard the boy excitedly speaking confused English mixed with Portuguese in his ear, but he couldn't understand anything at all.
Cristiano was quickly pulled down by Kaka. He turned around and hugged Kaka tightly, burying his face in Kaka's shoulders: "Kaka!! We did it!! We are going to the finals!!"
Kaka hugged Cristiano's back, and his jersey on the chest was quickly soaked by Cristiano's tears.
Before he could say anything, Ramos jumped up and interrupted him.
Ramos hugged Cristiano and Van Nistelrooy excitedly with great fear and relief. He didn't dare to think about what would happen if they lost. If he missed the penalty, he would definitely become the target of public criticism and be scolded to death.
He happily kissed Cristiano and Van Nistelrooy's necks like a giant golden retriever, screaming with excitement.
"Go back to practice!" Mourinho rushed in and hugged his players to celebrate, while pulling Ramos' ear and yelling at him happily.
Ramos shrank his neck.
Not to mention Raul and others, they haven't made it to the end of the Champions League for a long time!
Everyone was jumping and dancing with joy, as if it was already the moment to hold the trophy on the final night.
Reporters captured Cristiano's red eyes. Although they couldn't catch Cristiano to talk about his red eyes after the game, it didn't stop them from looking at the picture and writing about it.
"The importance of the Champions League to Ronaldo! The Portuguese superstar is moved to tears!"
"Crybaby Cristiano shed tears on the penalty shootout!"
“…”
Cristiano didn't care about these people's nonsense. He was only happy about one thing - they won!
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